LitRPG Audiobook Podcast 074 - The Naughty Episode III
LitRPG Audiobook Podcast 074 - The Naughty Episode III
“Hello everyone. Welcome to the LitRPG Audiobook Podcast. I’m Ray. I’ll be reviewing some recent and classic LitRPG Audiobooks for you. I’ll begin with: ”
The Swordsman - A Pulp Harem Fantasy Adventure (01:39)
Score: 8.3 out of 10
My Girlfriends Are Pirate Elves! Book 1 (07:46)
Score: 8.3 out of 10
Gryff the Griffin Rider - A Fantastic Harem, Book 1 (14:29)
Score: 8 out of 10
Sketch (21:59)
Score: 7.5 out of 10
The Harem at the End of the Galaxy, Book 1-5 (32:25)
Score: 7 out of 10
Monster Girl Galaxy, Book One (39:05)
Score: 8.2 out of 10
Soundbooth Spotlight
Psychobitches: Tear It Up (48:21)
Score: 8.4 out of 10
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The Swordsman
A Pulp Harem Fantasy Adventure
By: Zack Archer
Narrated by: Chris Graves
Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
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I grew up reading myths from around the world and old pulp novels that my grandfather had. There were a lot of westerns and Shadow novels and that is what made me love old time radio programs which lead to my current addiction to audiobooks. The Swordsman combines the old Beowulf legend with that pulpy feel of yesteryear. It also adds in something else, a bit of spice known as harem, and to be truthful, it aint just a bit it is a big ole helping of saucy goodness kicking you in the face.
I like it when a book announces what it is and doesn't pretend to be something else. Pulp and Harem are pretty much all over this book, and at times I felt like Robert Howard might have written this if he had gotten really drunk while he was horny. I totally don't mean that in a negative way. That is actually a compliment, as I think Howard often wanted to go a bit farther than he did when he wrote.
Anyway, this is a fun romp that covers a few different genres. We have sword and sorcery, time travel, pulp fantasy, and even a little melodrama. The story focuses on a down and out filmmaker who accidentally meets a temporally challenged Beowulf and his beautiful bevy of buxom babes bumming about which kinda goes into his need for someone to star in his reality show.
Now, are there a few issues? Sure, no book is perfect, but here I think the only issue I really had was that the characters could have used some more development. There is plenty of snark, sex, battle, magic, and even some excellent relationship development but there were points where the characters sometimes came a cross as being 2D rather than 3D. Still I think the book had good balance and pacing, and I wish I could have reviewed this on my litrpg podcast since it was so fun. Still, it has to be LITRPG to get on there. So that's my loss.
I felt that Chris Graves did an excellent job on the narration, he did accents and made me like Mossheart just by the attitude that he put on when he spoke through him. He definitely adds grit to the story and some extra impact that you don't often get from narrators nowadays. This book was actually one of my earlier introductions to harem and Chris Graves and Graves impressed me a lot. He gave me the fever for the flavor of, uh, chris graves? Either way he really pulls off snark perfectly and impresses to no end.
Give this book a listen. It was fun and worth the 6+ hours to get through. It was an excellent way to pass the time. My final score 8.3 stars. The book may not be Litrpg, but it is harem and the naughty special focuses on that!
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My Girlfriends Are Pirate Elves!
A Fantasy Light Novel
By: Eden Redd
Narrated by: Sierra Kline
Series: My Girlfriends Are Pirate Elves, Book 1
Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
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Fan Favorite Eden Redd rocks the high seas with her new tale of naughty pirate elves who arrive on a ship and sweep a humble dockmaster off his feet and into a world of saucy exploits. The book is a lighthearted romp and has a very anime feel to it, although I might just be getting that vibe from the cover art since the MC, John, in now way acts like one of those wimpy clueless men who get surrounded by hot chicks and then never take the plunge. John knows a good thing when he sees it.
Eden knows how to write, and does so in a style that makes you know she is a lady as her graphic scenes, which she has plenty of, don’t come off as raunchy or crude. The book itself is fun and easygoing, and the MC seems to just kind of go with the flow as I think most men would in his situation.
The book is like a reverse of the 1942 film the Black Swan, not the Natalie Portman garbage bag, that get meshed up with Princess bride sensibilities. Or maybe Against All Flags, Maureen O’Hara played a hardcore pirate chick in that one. Anyways. Its serious, but doesn’t take itself too seriously. In other words the book is just about having some oddball misadventures followed some spicy adventures after the fighting and pillaging is all done. I really liked the tone of the book and think that Redd managed to pull of a brilliant type of tale while making you think it is just another harem book. It’s not. Not by a long shot.
Sierra Kline is a siren. Her voice can call you across worlds with the promise of fun and sensuality that makes you not mind crashing on the rocks. She certainly has no issue going from humor to spicy at all, in fact, I think she helps to carry the book even though the story is well written and can stand on its own. She is a solid narrator here, and fits the story well. I could have just as easily called Kline a succubus, but she doesn’t make you fee like she sucked the life out of you.
I have to say that I enjoyed this more than I expected, I’m not overly fond of pirate stuff, but Eden Redd manages to bring the story to life in such a vibrant and bouncy way that I truly enjoyed everything she was putting out. I See that this is looking to be a healthy series, and I could go for more piratical hijinks so long as the pirates are elves and they are John’s girlfriends.
My final score 8.3 stars. This was a fun romp and it didn’t matter if it was the stuff between the sheets or the sheets used for sails. Thankfully the book didn’t jump the shark, it sailed smoothly over it and created a whole new type of nautical naughtiness that I, and you, can enjoy.
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Gryff the Griffin Rider
A Fantastic Harem, Book 1
By: Marcus Sloss
Narrated by: Daniel Wisniewski, Rebecca Woods
Series: Gryff The Griffin Rider, Book 1
Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins
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I’m going to come out and say I would have rated this book higher, but it had a bit of a wonky beginning, things snap to life as soon as the MC, Griff finds himself in his new world. Honestly, all the precursor stuff could have been dropped and then rethreaded into the story in small increments to let the back story unfold without having to get to the gamelit world. The book itself, much like All My Girlfriends are Pirate Elves, is a very much light hearted romp that will suck you in once you get there and believe me once you get there the getting’ is good.
Griff, my boy, is an Olympic athlete who sort of gets screwed out of participating, and so joins a sort of death race and erm, well you get the idea from the name of the race what happens. So he wakes up in a small fantasy styled village and discovers he’s a little more than he used to be. He’s stronger and can talk to griffins. If that isn’t enough to make a guy who just lost, or did he win the death race cause if you die in a death race do you win or lose? Not sure, anyway, if getting amped up and some top of the line talking powers he also ends up discovering that the number of babes in this new world outstrips the number of males by a very fun ratio. Plus, this is never really discussed, but I think he got another superpower, too. The ability to talk chicks into digging him, yeah baby!
Now, here is the good news for fans of naughtiness. This is a harem novel and it does have some saucily explicit S-e-x scenes in it, so this here tale ain’t one fer the kiddos. I know because I asked my ten year old if he wanted to listen and he told me it wasn’t age appropriate. (Kidding) It was my eight year old. Any how, if you have a taste for straight up no fade away sex then you won’t have an issue with this book at all.
Daniel Wisniewski and Rebecca Woods knock this out of the park. I am getting more and more impressed with a lot of the duos that do pop up for harem books. The delightful atmosphere the book carries seems to come from the interaction and interplay of these two. They do a great job and bring the story to life.
Though the book started off on some wobbly legs it really found its footing when it got to the meat and taters of the story. Gryff took off and soared in ways that I never expected, and really appreciated. So, I am giving the book 8 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think it is going to make a great series.
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Sketch
By: Marco Frazetta
Narrated by: Chris Graves, Andrea Parsneau
Series: Sketch Series, Book 1
Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
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Here’s a book that is all about the narration. I’ll get to the story in minute, but this is absolute proof that great narration can elevate a book to a point that the written word couldn’t achieve, and Chris Graves and Andrea Parsnau tag team the hell out of this book. They give it a lot of life and love, and somehow Chris manages to make the MC bearable. Andrea brings every woman to life in a distinct way, you know whose speaking just from the voice, and I am going to say this as a compliment, and it is not to be taken any other way, but Andrea has a voice made for harem books. Sultry and seductive and so full of emotion. You can hear raw desire as well as confidence everytime she plays one of these ladies. Chris narrates and like I say he carries this book like Atlas with the world on his back. He somehow manages to bring some life and light into the story in a way few other narrators can or could.
No relation to the late great, Frank Frazetta, the artist of the famous Death Dealer, Marco Frazetta does am ok job. Personally, I like the concept as it feels a lot like JA Cipriano’s magic pen series, in which anything that was written by the magic pen occurred. Then again it also reminds me of Harold and the Purple Crayon. Either way, Frazetta tells the story of a man who learns that anything he draws comes to life.
So, of course, the MC gets an interview with a comic book company and suddenly learns that he has the ability to bring anything he draws to life. Natch, being a superhero fan he begins to create superheroes, and then proceeds to make it his mission to bed every character he creates. I mean, if I’m honest, I would do one of two things. I would either draw the most evil and terrible monsters that I could conceive of and unwittingly unleash them on the world or I would draw hot babes for me to have sex with. So, yeah the world would be over run by monsters, but if I was a young man I’d be doing the same thing.
The unfortunate side of things is that the MC is really kind of a chump. There are points he is unlikable, points where he does stupid stuff, claims to have learned from it, and then repeats the whole process all over again. There is no relationship building like in most harems, and that is my biggest issue. The people in the harem deserve to be treated like people and have a bond with the MC and not seem so much like a one night stand which it kinda does.
The book does have issues, but none of them come from the narration. IN fact, the narration pretty much saves the whole book. I hate to do this but my final score is 7.5 stars, as the main character is very inconsistent and barely likeable.
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The Harem at the End of the Galaxy
By: Kyle Kenze
Narrated by: Charlie Boswell
Series: The Harem at the End of the Galaxy, Book 1-5
Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
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End of the Galaxy has the potential to be really great, and there are strong spots in the book. I’ll be honest and say that the cover kept me from really checking the book out earlier. This is also a book in which is completely read from a male narrator, and I have a few things to say about that.
Charlie Boswell narrates the book, and I think he is a great narrator, one who can read clearly and tell an effective story, and even add humor where it belongs. The problem is he does not doe female voices well. Or rather, I should say, at all. He barely made an attempt to make any of the characters sound feminine, and that did take away from the tale for me. And I’m talking sounding like Dr. Girlfriend on Venture Brothers, but without the visual aid. I’m not saying you can’t work around it, but it takes a lot of suspension of disbelief. One the other hand, I think he does a decent job in his story telling. The issue is that this is a book that has a mountain of sex and lady parts (vocally speaking) that he has to do. So, some guys may have an issue with that.
The story is pretty much geared towards getting to the graphic sex scenes as soon and as often as possible, but it does manage to have a good plot and lots of sci-fi elements including time travel. The book is a compilation of five novellas, and centers on a military guy who gets pulled back and forth through time by the last remaining women who are looking for a way to repopulate humanity that has been wiped out by an alien virus. As a collection the stories are kinda hit and miss in quality but for the most part the overall story is decent. In fact, if you took out all the sex it would be a good sci-fi time travel novel all on its own.
The MC, Clayton, is the last dude in the galaxy who has viable junk with stuff in his trunk, in other words, he the last living male baby maker. He ends up getting pulled into the future and bounced back into the past and it becomes a story about trying to make course corrections in the past as much as it is about saving the future via making love.
The book is a short listen, and might just be up your alley. For me it was ok, and while I say that Boswell is a good narrator I think its clear he needed a partner to help him. I’m giving points on the quality of the writing, my final score is 7 stars. The simple addition of a good female narrator and I think the quality of this would increase.
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Monster Girl Galaxy, Book One
By: Austin Beck
Narrated by: Christian J. Gilliland
Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
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Here’s a new one by Austin Beck, who continues to write what he knows, which is mixed-martial arts and Pro-wrestling. Added to those two things is the addition of a harem, which I think Austin fantasizes about like most men, only more intently. This is an iseakii adventure, in which the world famous wrestler gets taken to outer space and finds himself in the middle of an intergalactic gamelit styled world of Zorth.
The book has a wandering style that tells me that it is a slice of life type story rather than one with an overarching storyline, and to be honest it fits. The MC, Dalton, gets unique class and is helped along the way by his quickly building harem of monster women.
I have to be honest, I would find it difficult to be attracted to monster girls, and have never seen the appeal of fox girls, and such; although I do find women who dress up like bunnies and kitty cats for Halloween super sexy as hell so I can understand the appeal to some degree. I also know that there is a huge group of people out there who enjoy that exact genre, and I know this book will appeal to them. It isn’t the rompy bumpy humpy hump then cut style that some harem books get into so deeply, but it is rather “descriptive” to the point and does not fade to black. Not remotely, so like I say, pleasantly graphic in its tone style and pace.
Beck likes OP characters as his MC, and Dalton is a hardcore ass-kicker right out of the gate, and he only gets stronger as he goes along. I only say this because I know that some people take issue with over powered characters, I myself like to see people start out weak and grow as they go along, but I have been enjoying Superman stories since I was a kid and that dude had super abilities that appeared whenever he needed them so I can’t scrutinize a strong lead.
Christian J. Gilliland does an excellent job narrating. I have enjoyed him for a while and think he’s been steadily improving as he goes along. I know most times that male narrators get banged when doing a harem book solo but there are few men who can do rough voices and then seductive female voices. Jeff Hays, for example, can pull it off. The incredible Luke Daniels never really struck me as being able to do more than sound like a dude trying to talk like a woman. Christian does great, and I think that he more than acquitted himself doing this alone. Would I personally like to hear a lady doing the lady bits? Sure, but not every author can afford 2 narrators, and in this case Beck doesn’t need a second narrator to carry his story. Gilliland pulls this off nicely.
Final score 8.2 stars. The book does hop from point to point, but the writing has improved since MMAC and it does feed into a lot of guys fantasies. Give it a try. For those wondering, I will review Beck’s first book later. There are some things in the works that I am waiting for. Give this one a try.
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Psychobitches: Tear It Up
By: Jamie Hawke
Narrated by: Jeff Hays, Annie Ellicott, Yvonne Syn, Justin Thomas James
Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
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Here’s one that you’ll wish was longer than it is. Six hours just wasn’t enough and I’m going to tell you why. Psychobitches is like a late 80’s rated R popcorn action flick made for Cinemax. The title isn’t just about the titular girls inside the novel, but is a descriptor for what is held within. The MC and his squad of crazy B’s do indeed tear it up. It literally goes a little something like this, fight, rest, have sex, fight again, wash, rinse, and repeat. It is a frantic, frenetic, frenzied tale that doesn’t seem to have a pause button. It is unrelenting in its delivery and each action is pursued to its utmost urgency. No one slacks.
Ezra, the MC, is a sort of combo of Blondie from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Deckard from Bladerunner, The Mandolorian, and Leonard Smalls from Raising Arizona. He is tough and cool under pressure, but more importantly he’s cool when he’s under one of his Psycho B’s. The trio of girls are the result of combining several pornos with Kill Bill’s Deadly Viper Squad and Zac Snyder’s Sucker Punch fantasy girls. Erupa, Tink, Cheri, and Letha, are the members of Ezra’s crazy harem The result is cool characters getting into wild situations and then reveling in their survival.
This is not a novel that you will expect to see a lot of character growth, and if I have a complaint it is that the book is too short, but that’s something I’ve come to expect with Jamie’s books. You get a lot of bang for your buck but the fireworks don’t light up the sky for as long as you’d like. Generally, with Jamie you find that the book is over before you know it, but that is because his writing is so engaging. I often find that I finish one of his books the same day that I start it. As an Easter Egg for you all Hawke pulls in other characters from other series that he’s written, so fans of Hawkes other stuff will be pleasantly unsurprised.
Soundbooth Burlesque animates Hawkes words to such a degree that you want to listen to this alone because the visuals you get practically manifest in the air around you. SBT as a whole continues to bring their A game, and show that each performance is just a little bit better. One thing that I appreciated is that the sound effects and such were not so loud that they outplayed the great narration, it was effective and used with precision for the utmost effect. The boys, Jeff and JTJ, are like Maverick and Goose, they are the top guns so far as I’m concerned. Annie and Yvonne, are the Thelma and Louise of narrators, because they steal the show, and absolutely kill. They are believable as hot and heavy seductresses just as much as they are as manic mad maidens on a killer rampage. The resulting combo of crazy goddesses and commanding men melds into a magnificent freeway pile up with clowns, aliens, fire, and tornados. All you know is it is insane but oh so fun to be a part of.
Final score is 8.4 stars the book never pretends to be something its not, it is a pure high octane adventure that you don’t want to miss.
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For LitRPG Audiobook Podcast, I’m Ray. Keep listening!!!
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